Broadband Availability Stratified Between Rural and Urban, City Centers and Suburbs

Seventy-one percent of the rural population had access to basic broadband service compared to 98 percent of the urban population according to a report from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration. The report examines the disparity of broadband availability between rural and urban areas based on 2011 broadband availability data. However, as broadband speeds increase, the access gap between these populations grows. When breaking down the population into five groups, the densest population geographies have greater availability at or above maximum advertised speeds, with suburbs surpassing central cities overall.